


Infatuation

by Gem_Gem



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angry Loki, BAMF Pepper Potts, Drunk Tony Stark, F/M, Gen, M/M, Magic, Science Bros, Slave Loki, Smug Tony Stark, Snarky Jarvis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 11:12:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4017583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gem_Gem/pseuds/Gem_Gem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The days of silence that followed was tense and unwanted, and extremely long, and Tony Stark used that time to drown his nightmares, fears and anger with the contents of his mini bar. The reconstruction of the tower was also a big distraction, as well as the constant, soothing presence of Pepper. Her strong will and level head kept him grounded and sane, like it always had, and Tony was grateful for it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Infatuation

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first and only Avengers fanfiction. Please be gentle.
> 
> Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Four months, it had only taken four months for Loki to escape his imprisonment on Asgard. As time on Asgard was different than that on earth, it had probably taken the God of mischief longer to conjure the correct plan of action, but the fact of the matter was, he had done it, and he was out.

Thor had notified the Avengers of the news, when the search for his adopted brother had failed and Thor had feared Loki had somehow made his way back to earth to finish what he had started with the Chitauri attack. The news was followed by panic and a lot of swearing, as Nick Fury demanded details and made arrangements with S.H.I.E.L.D. 

The days of silence that followed was tense and unwanted, and extremely long, and Tony Stark used that time to drown his nightmares, fears and anger with the contents of his mini bar. The reconstruction of the tower was also a big distraction, as well as the constant, soothing presence of Pepper. Her strong will and level head kept him grounded and sane, like it always had, and Tony was grateful for it.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, and there was still no news on Loki. No news was bad news and Nick Fury made sure to remind everyone of that fact on a daily basis. Loki had disappeared before; Fury had said, and brought an army of aliens down upon earth, who knew what else he could do given the freedom, given the time. Tony knew he was right, everyone knew; yet it got them no less closer to finding the God of lies.

Thor had mused about his brother fleeing to one of the other realms and at one point, had even wondered if Loki had indeed escaped, or if it was a mere illusion. The latter was dismissed as quickly as it was brought up, and the search and pondering continued. None of them could rest easy knowing Loki was free, the death toll of the attack on New York was still heavy in everyone’s minds, as well as the publics. 

On one particularly chilly day in October, Tony turned his attention to something other than machines, something other than the metal and wire and hardware he was use to, and pulled up anything he could find on magic. Tony spent a day and a half, without sleep, searching through all the data that he could get about rituals, spells and the history of witchcraft, before he slumped back in his seat with a humourless chuckle. He couldn’t believe it, even then, after everything that had happened, everything that he had witnessed, he couldn’t find it in himself to believe.

He recalled Loki’s powers, his superhuman strength, agility and senses, as well as the way he tricked Thor with clones of his own body and survived a pummelling from Hulk. Tony disliked being in the dark, hated the feeling of uselessness and vulnerability. If there were beings, creatures, like Thor, Loki and the Chitauri, what else was there? 

Tony shook from his stupor and regarded the wall of text before him once more. He didn’t know if what he was seeing was real, if it could do what it claimed. He didn’t know the difference between the hocus pocus in front of him and that of which Loki used.

He paused the sea of words when some caught his eye and highlighted the subtitled words “Tracking Spell”, “Location Spell”, and “Binding Spell”, and everything that came with them with a swish of his fingers. Tony needed to try, he wouldn’t tell anyone and he’d definitely never speak of it again if it failed, but he needed to do something, and if it, miraculously, worked, then they had something they could use, something he could try and learn and understand.

“Jarv, start up a new project,” Tony murmured to the empty room as he made a list of the so called “ingredients” for all the spells, “Call it something witty like “Toil and trouble” or “Hogwarts: A History”—actually, scrap that, it’s too cliché and overly used, if someone were to catch sight of it - which they wouldn’t because I want no one to see this project but me - but if they were, they’d know straight away what I’m doing, and we can’t have that…”

_“No, sir. Forgive me, but might I suggest something, sir?”_

“You may,” Tony nodded, “Doesn’t mean I’ll listen but go ahead.”

_“Perhaps, sir, I could just add this to the folder you already have on Loki Odinson that you aptly named ‘Problem Child’? I believe you explained that said title was a song written by ACDC, sir, and that it fit the God extremely well.”_

Tony frowned, “I did?”

_“Well, you were very drunk at the time, sir.”_

“Do I hear a hint of derision in your voice, Jarv?”

_“Never, sir.”_

Tony waved a dismissive hand and stood, “Go ahead then, add this to the existing folder, I’ve got some shopping to do.”

_“Already done, sir.”_

The “ingredients” as it turned out was not hard to come by and Tony had even found, to his surprise, that there were many Magic shops scattered throughout the streets which held most, if not all, of what he had needed. He had wandered through, selecting and picking up things, sniffing at incense and cloves of herbs. Tony had even bought other items that had nothing to do with the spells he was considering chanting, dumping them into a bag with a shrug. He had then paused before a large bookshelf and skimmed the volumes stacked there, choosing a few about myths and legends, a dream dictionary and two books on spells and rituals. 

Tony sighed once he returned to his lab and emptied the bags of requirements, “Open “Problem Child”,” he mumbled to the open air as he thumbed through a leather-bound black book to his right.

He sat and tried each and every spell he could find online and amongst the book pages that could have helped him find Loki, chanting Loki’s name over and over again for different incantations, invocations and bewitchments, and he had even pictured the black haired God in his mind when it had been instructed, but found that none of them did anything. There was no flickering of lights, no bang, no rumbling, no shift of energy, but nothing. Nothing changed. Tony frowned in frustration, trying a few more at random as he hacked a forum about witchcraft and asked a bombardment of questions. Having none of his questions answered fully Tony searched mythology and legend, browsing through pages and pages of text and ancient images of the so-called Gods. 

When minutes turned into hours, Tony turned to the deepest corners of the Internet and pulled up several pages on dark magic, ancient rituals and chants, and a site filled with words in another language completely. Tony rubbed his eyes and flicked the site bigger, peering at the words unblinkingly until he sat back with a deep sigh, stroking a hand across his face.

“Jarvis,” he mumbled. “What language is this?”

_“I believe it is Old Norse, Sir. A North Germanic language that was spoken by--”_

“Norse?” Tony repeated. “So this has something to do with our ol’ pal Loki? Can you translate it?” 

_“Of course, sir.”_

“Do it. Maybe this could be of some use.” He said, as he scanned the contents and settled on a gathering of words at random. Tony tilted his head at the configuration of the letters and licked his lips, trying a few of them out loud and then reading out what looked to be a poem.

A group of candles that Tony had lit before flickered as soon he finished, the flames dancing slowly, rippling as they caught Tony’s attention. He turned toward them and leaned forward, watching the fire as it sputtered and swayed and then shrank, almost going out completely. After a moment the computer screens and fluorescent lights followed suit and Tony stood slowly, looking around and jumping as the scattered runes clattered roughly against the counter.

“Oh crap…Jarvis?” Tony asked, turning around as the air hummed, hot and electric. The lights stuttered loudly and then exploded in a shower of glass, raining down on him as the fire from the candles erupted largely in a spurt of yellow with a sudden and loud roar. 

Tony shielded his head and ducked under a desk, covering his ears as the pressure of the air shuddered dangerously. The runes fell to the floor and rolled restlessly, locking into place a moment later and trembling. With an ear-piercing snap the ground parted beneath them and a figure shot out to only fall again in a heap opposite Tony. He glanced over in surprise and just as quickly as everything had begun, it stopped, and everything was still and Tony jerked at the suddenness of it all.

He slid from under the desk cautiously and peered around, assessing the damage and breathing a sigh of relief when the backup power fired up. Tony looked at the crumpled body and took a careful step closer, shuffling to poke it with the toe of his shoe.

With a fluidness that screamed of elegant strength, the body jumped up and turned around with shockingly, familiar, green eyes. “Loki?” Tony blurted.

“Stark” Loki replied, voice weirdly strained and hoarse. He looked around, seeming dazed and confused, and then back at Tony. “What did you do?”

Tony shrugged. “Looks to me like I caught you.” 

_“Sir?”_

“I know, just hang on a second,” Tony replied quickly with a dismissive, jittery wave, at nothing, smirking at Loki openly. 

“What did you do?” Loki demanded, taking an edgy step toward Tony whilst looking down at his own body. “You’ve done something to me.”

Tony held out his hands and then twitched backwards when Loki snapped his eyes back on him and he stalked close to loom over Tony. Loki ran his gaze over Tony’s face searchingly, his brow furrowing deeply and his mouth down turned before it pursed and he clenched his eyes shut briefly, stepping back. As everything powered back up, the screens flitting back to life, Loki stared in horror at the half translated words.

“You have bewitched me!” Loki exclaimed; his jaw muscles jumping as Tony swiped the screens clear. “Do you know what you have done? Do you know what has befallen me because of your idiotic, pathetic attempt at--”

“Pathetic? I think I did well. You’re here, aren’t you?” Tony drawled, lifting his brows at Loki’s dark look and then smiling. “Jarvis, connect me to--”

“You have done more than brought me here,” Loki cut over him, taking in the spell books, the candles, and lastly the runes, picking a few up with outrage and drawing horror. “How many incantations did you perform? What were they?”

Tony hitched his shoulders, “Does it matter? The end result is what matters, and it worked out perfectly. We’ve all been terribly worried about you, sneaking off like you did, we thought you’d fallen into the wrong crowd again,” he teased.

“You should not have dabbled into that which you do not understand!” Loki shouted, squeezing the runes in his fist. “Because of your arrogance, of your stupidity, you have done something to me, magically. Have you not wondered why I haven’t just killed you? I can. Easily. You are without your suit, your precious team is not here, and you are all alone, helpless. Yet here I stand, not lifting a finger.”

“Yes, but as you’ll remember, you tried to kill me before. You know, you threw me out of my own window? Yeah, remember how well that worked out for you in the end? Not well. Not well at all, seeing as you you were pummelled into my beautiful floor by big green--”

“I could crush your skull with my bare hands,” Loki went on, uncurling his fingers to let the runes fall. “But I won’t. I won’t because…you have bewitched me.”

Tony frowned, “What are you saying?”

“I am saying,” Loki sighed, taking a breath and then screwing his eyes closed as if he were in pain or straining not to speak. “I am saying, I will not hurt you because you have put several enchantments on me, and one of them prevents me from harming you. I believe the spells have merged and mutated into one though, which makes things difficult. I may not be able to--”

“Whoa, whoa! Time out. All those things, those…spells, that I did, they all worked?”

Loki inclined his head, “Yes.”

“Huh,” Tony huffed with a slow grin. “So, what were you saying about not being able to hurt me?”

“I cannot seem to hurt you even when I desperately want to or try to-- I also find that I have to answer you when you ask me a question, because I want to…please you,” Loki said with a grimace. “You have essentially made me into your slave. Furthermore, I seemed to be bound to you, or your location. I felt a horrid tugging so dire that I had to allow it to take me to you; least I implode from the sensation alone. I still regain my personality though, as well as my own thoughts, mostly… that is why I think the overall incantation has mutated…”

Tony blinked, crossed his arms, frowned and uncrossed them, and then laughed, clutching his waist, “So, what you’re basically saying is that you will do whatever I say?”

“Yes,” Loki hissed through his teeth. “But do not think that this--”

“Stop talking.”

Tony’s grin widened when Loki fell silent stiffly. He regarded Loki thoughtfully after a moment, ignoring Jarvis once more with a wave of his hand and chuckled deeply, rubbing his hands together.

“Oh, this could be the best thing that could have happened,” he smirked, shrugging in the next moment. “Or the worst. I’m betting on best though, what about you Bambi?”


End file.
